“It might have been at a time of night when people say they see reality
in a dream. Almost catching my breath, I looked on this strange scene.
By the dim light of the andon, I could see the Emperor doll holding an ivory sceptre, the Empress doll—its tiara bedecked with jewels, the ukon wild orange, the sakon
cherry, the porter carrying a long-handled umbrella, the Court Lady
holding up a food tray a little below the level of her eyes, the small
gold-lacquered mirror and chest, a small folding screen decorated with
shell, the rice bowls, the decorated candle shades, the balls of colored
thread, and again, my father’s profile. . . .
    As if I were seeing them in a dream, . . . ah, that is what I have already said.”

—Ryunosuke Akutagawa, The Dolls, from Exotic Japanese Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagaway, translated by Takashi Kojima and John McVittie, 1964.